Rear Blade Rear Blade Sizing for JD 855

   / Rear Blade Sizing for JD 855 #1  

rox5488

Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2006
Messages
41
Location
PA
Hello

I have been having a bit of a time on figuring this out. How large of a rear blade should I get for my tractor. It is a John Deere 855. It is 24 HP. Rear wheels are 53" apart.

I am unsure about a 60" blade since that would only be 3" on each side of the rear tires if the blade is straight.

THe main use of it is going to be snow plowing and some light duty grading in my garden. I will be using it on an angle which basically takes away most of hte 3" I had before.

So I am thinking maybe a 72" is better? Looking at Wood RB60 or RB72. Want to get the tilt option but once again if I get 72" does that leave me enough room to run tilt when needed (can i lift it high enough off the ground?)

HOpefully someone has some insight here who can help!

Thanks for any suggestions.

PS I have searched the site a bunch of times... I have read about people putting on a rubber edge for snow plowing on a blacktop driveway. That sounds like a good idea. Can anyone give me any further info on that?
 
   / Rear Blade Sizing for JD 855 #2  
I am also trying to figure out what size rear blade I can use, so I can't help you with that. Although I would think you could use the 72" if it isn't a heavy duty one. I was looking at the cheap King Kutter blades at TSC this weekend though and they have a rubber strip at the bottom. I think it was on both sides to use forward and reverse like a box blade.
 
   / Rear Blade Sizing for JD 855 #3  
Definitely 72" model. Especially if going to angle blade. 60"-66" would be ok for a box blade in that size.
 
   / Rear Blade Sizing for JD 855 #4  
When the blade gets too long and the snow gets deeper the tractor will "crab" along and you won't be as effective as when you use a shorter blade or less angle. The blade will steer you more than your wheels. The bigger the blade the bigger your tractor needs to be. As you increse the angle of the blade "crabing" will be more severe. Front end ballast is effective at reducing this effect. Weight on the rear tires is an obvious requirement for straight ahead and backward plowing but front end weight is important when angle plowing. I plow forward with a full bucket of snow in the loader bucket.

When using tilt on a blade to move dirt all these issues will be magnified.

I have a Kubota B7100 and a B7610. On the long driveways I plow forward and on the parking areas I plow in reverse. I set the top link short so I can pile the snow high when I back up. I make my first pass with the blade forward and set straight, then a couple of passes with the blade set to angle the snow to the right. When using the blades at an angle I use my 5' rear mount blades and I set the 3 point check chains so the blade is offset to one side when plowing forward. If I'm plowing with the blade at an angle with the snow plowing to the right I set the right side of the blade so it just cleans up behind the track for the right tire. If I run out of places to push it, which is rare, I'll use the front end loader. I can pile it pretty high with the rear blade.

Because I use the blade at an angle on the long driveways I can't use side plates on the rear blade. The side plates increse ecffectivness allot when clearing parking areas. You might try a side plate on the left end of the blade.

My only question would be: Why do you need to cover the width of the tractor in the snow with the blade? This is not like a rotitiller where you're trying to cover the tracks. I must be missing something on this. Maybe you could adjust the track width smaller?
 
   / Rear Blade Sizing for JD 855
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Hi Guys

Thanks for the input. I am thinking probabaly 72" as well but just wanted some feedback as to whether in fact it was reasonable to use that size blade with my tractor. I will have rear and front weight on the machine.

I guess the reason I wanted it over my tires might now be for snow but for moving dirt which I will surely do sometime with it, to get it level you would want it to overlap your wheel base so as to keep it level if not one tire could be at a higher elevation which could angle the blade and make it an uneven surface.

For snow plowing i'll just drop it and go really.

My main concern was just if I get that wide and it doesn't seem to want to use the tilt feature. I think i'll be ok.

Thanks again
 
   / Rear Blade Sizing for JD 855 #6  
My Kubota is 24 horse and has roughly the same wheel width. I have a 60" angle/tilt rear blade for it and I used it one winter for snow removal (then decided I needed a snowblower). If I were doing it again, I would go for the 72. I have a 72" landscape rake, which is just right, but for heavier stuff, I would stay at 60. My box blade, RFM, and snowblower are all 60".
 
   / Rear Blade Sizing for JD 855 #7  
rox5488,

As a point of reference, I had a JD755 (20 hp) with a 7' blade that I used to plow snow. I had the blade facing forward and straight. I could pull anything up to about a 7 or 8" snow fall to the end of my 75' driveway. I would use the FEL to pile the snow off at the end. For deeper snow or really heavy snow, I would get about 3/4 of the way and push the snow off to the side at that point. The 755 had turf tires. I hung 4 suitcase style weights off the top edge of the back blade to provide down force for good cleaning to the pavement. The blade was in direcrt contact with the pavement. I did not use a rubber edge. I did this for 16 years and the driveway has held up fine (it was sealed every 2 to 3 years).

This size blade did not work well for dirt and I did not use it for that. It was for snow removal only.

I think you will be fine with the 6' blade on the 855.

I now have a 59" blower on a JD4310.

Jeff
 
   / Rear Blade Sizing for JD 855 #8  
RADDAD
The reason I like the blade beyond the wheels is so that the snow can be moved beyond the edge of the road. Then the tractor doesn't have to drive off the road where the grass/edge is softer and can be damaged or leave ruts.
Like you said, sometimes the longer blade can tend to steer the tractor if the snow is heavy/wet or icy.
 
   / Rear Blade Sizing for JD 855
  • Thread Starter
#9  
Guys

Want to thank you for all the opinions and help. I will probably go for the 6' (72") blade based on this info. Thanks again.
 
   / Rear Blade Sizing for JD 855 #10  
You will want a 72" blade. My B3030 is also 53" wide. I bought it with a 60" Landpride RB. When plowing snow with the blade angled the plowed snow falls back a bit and ends up inside the edge of the tires. That means that if you are plowing a driveway it will not completely move all of the snow off of the edge. Unless you drive with the wheels in the bank on the edge of the driveway the next time you plow the driveway will become narrower. A 72" solves this problem by pushing the snow out past the edge of the driveway. I traded the 60" RB back to the dealer for a 72" about halfway through the winter last year. Another thing you will want is skid shoes. I made my own but you can also get them with most any brand RB. They really help control the cut of the blade, especially on gravel. They even help save the edge of the blade when plowing on cement.
 

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